Joanna Castle
by xDaisyPetalx
Summary: A piece of pure fluff which came to me the night of the London riots. Joanna Castle can't sleep. A one-shot.


**This idea came into my head a couple of nights ago. The London riots got pretty close to us and at 2:30 am I was still wide awake. I walked across the landing to find my dad up, like me, unable to sleep. So, I climbed onto the bed and we played eye-spy until I was tired and went off to sleep. **

**I do not own any of the characters apart from Joanna Castle.**

* * *

><p>It was a typical Friday night in New York City. Sirens blared as they streaked through the crowded streets, the sound of raucous laughter drifting up to the many in their apartments. The city, as always, was made bright by street lamps, keeping many awake. One of these people was Joanna Castle. She tossed and turned, pulling a pillow over her little head to try and block out the sound. After a summer in the Hamptons, her first night back in their 'normal' home had come as a shock to her. She sat up, brushing her auburn hair out of her puffed up, tired blue eyes. Swinging her legs off of the bed she stood up, padding as quietly as she could out of her bedroom, trying to make as little noise as possible. If she was caught up there'd be trouble, big trouble. As she quietly made her way through the still loft she passed Alexis' old room. She stopped, looking in. All of her stuff was gone, her violin, her books; the only thing that still made it her older sister's room was the fact it still smelt like her. Well, the perfume she always wore. Joanna always missed Alexis when she went, the summers were the best time, her sister was around to play with her and Ashley always joined in. She always had a playmate. She sighed, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her teddy-bear pyjamas and continued to make her way to the kitchen for a glass of water.<p>

"Joanna Castle" she stopped dead in her tracks outside the spare room. Holding her breath she turned to face her father who was lying on the bed, typing on his laptop, like he always was. "What are you doing awake? You know Mom won't be pleased."

Joanna hung her head as she walked into the spare room, climbing onto the bed and sitting at the end of it "I couldn't sleep, Daddy." She paused, sticking her thumb in her mouth.

"Don't suck your thumb Anna." She quickly removed it.

"It's too loud here." She said quietly, before mumbling quietly "I miss 'Lexis."

Castle's eyes softened as his three year old daughter looked up at him worriedly; he knew she was terrified of being told off. "Come here." He shut his laptop and put it down by the side of his bed, pulling the duvet so that Joanna could climb in. She crawled toward him and pulled the covers over her small body, snuggling under her father's arm and resting her head on his chest. Castle sighed "We all miss Alexis but she'll visit soon, okay?" he felt his daughter nod. "She'll be back before you know it. And it's not that loud Anna, it jumps seems like it is because the Hamptons are so quiet. It'll feel normal again after a while." No nod this time, his daughter obviously didn't agree. "I promise."

She sighed, "Okay Daddy." She thought for a moment "But what about now?"

"Well," Castle interjected "How about we play eye-spy?"

His daughter rolled her eyes "Daddy that game's for babies."

He chuckled, in his mind she was a baby, still that tiny little bundle he'd held (tearfully) in his arms three years ago. But he daren't tell his daughter that, even at three she had sharp elbows which hurt when she jabbed you. She was determined to be grown up and, it was true, she was advanced for her age; just like Alexis had been. But Castle was desperate for her to stay at this age forever. "I guess that means you'll be able to beat me then." He tactfully replied.

She conceded and moved so she was more propped up against her father and had a greater view of the room. She scanned it carefully, trying to find something her father (who always won) would never get. "I spy with my little eye," she paused dramatically, "something beginning with… L." She turned back to look at him, her blue eyes blazing, daring him to guess.

He smiled lazily and pulled her closer to him. "Um, lamp?"

She grinned "No."

"L… little window?"

"Daddy!"

"Sorry. Um, Lego?" he nodded toward her Lego toys in the corner.

"No." Her smile was growing by the minute.

"Light?"

"That's the same as lamp Daddy."

"Hmmm, well, I give up kiddo, what was it?"

"Light bulb?" she crowed "I beat you!"

"Shhh, you'll wake your mother up." Joanna immediately quietened "I guess that means you get another go then."

She smiled "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with… B"

They carried on playing. Castle watched as his daughter's eyes began to droop with each round of the game and soon she was nestled against him, only occasionally guessing items scattered around the room, her eyes becoming heavy with impending sleep. He heard footsteps and looked up. His wife poked her head round the door, her brow furrowed as she saw her daughter curled up to her husband.

"Castle, what's she doing up?"

Joanna turned sleepily "I couldn't sleep Momma, Daddy and I were playing eye-spy."

"I can see that." Kate chuckled, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Who was winning?"

"Me." Her daughter mumbled, "Momma, can I have a cuddle?"

"Sure baby girl." It was Kate's turn to climb under the duvet and her daughter moved away from her father and into her mother's arms. She gave a small sigh and closed her eyes. Kate watched her sleep, she was perfect. Joanna had her hair and Rick's eyes; she was as intelligent as her father with a wider vocabulary than most children her age and she had good spacial awareness, just like her mother. Yet she had her mother's quick temper, she wasn't calm like Alexis. She was headstrong and didn't respond well to being told what to do. Kate had had to be strict when Joanna had hit the terrible twos, she'd been almost over the top that year, but it'd worked. Her daughter had huge respect for her and would listen to her mother, yet she was still a huge Daddy's girl. She leant down and kissed Joanna's forehead and watched as her daughter's eyelids fluttered slightly.

"Do you want me to take her to bed?" Castle murmured.

She nodded "Yeah, I don't want to make a habit of this. She should wake up in her own bed." Castle nodded and carefully lifted Joanna up and close to his chest. He carefully got out of bed and Kate watched as he slowly walked away. She smiled, relaxing into the pillows. As Castle re-entered the room she asked "Why are you in here? I fell asleep and you were there and when I woke up…" she tailed off, not wanting to sound needy.

He smiled, reading her thoughts and climbed back onto bed, putting his arm around her shoulders and she leant into him. "I had some ideas about the book and you'd just got to sleep. You know I toss and turn if I don't get my ideas down on paper quickly and I didn't want to wake you with the football player giving you a hard time getting any rest." He rested his other hand on Kate's swollen stomach.

"Oh don't, I feel like a whale."

He laughed "You're beautiful and don't try and deny it. You're glowing Kate."

She smiled bashfully, "I forgot how tiring it is being pregnant, I could only remember the good bits about being pregnant with Anna. I wouldn't have let you talk me into it otherwise."

"Oh you wanted another one just as badly as I did. Plus, I need another guy around here." He grinned, "Sorry Kate, I love you and all, but two daughters and a wife is too much oestrogen for me."

She slapped him playfully, "There's only two of us with Alexis living with Ashley."

"True" he agreed, "But still, pregnant hormonal lady counts for two girls. Ouch!" she slapped him again, harder with a laugh.

"Well I expect you to take all the night feeds then, I'm squeezing your son out of me the least you can do is feed your growing boy when he's hungry." She raised an eyebrow.

"Of course, if you promise not to slap me again."

"I'm not promising anything Castle." They sat there for a moment, content in each other's company. Her head was resting on his shoulder, watching his smile grow larger as their son kicked. "So?" she murmured.

"So?"

"What was the idea for your story? The one that was so important I woke up in a cold bed."

"Oh, I had a new character in my head. The youngest son of the victim."

"Mmh?"

"He'd been seen to fight with his father two nights before his murder and had made several phone calls to his older brother the next day."

"So is he the murderer?"

"Well Detective Beckett, what do you think?"

"I'd run the calls, get in the older brother to tell me what the phone calls are about. Especially as the older son has yet to confirm his alibi, does the younger brother have one?"

"Not yet."

"So they conspired together to kill the father and split the will?"

"Maybe…"

"Castle" she sighed in exasperation.

"What? I want your opinion on who did it so that I don't pick them."

"What?" she sounded almost offended.

"The first suspect we get in a case, the most obvious," he explained "It never turns out to be them. So I can discard them as possibilities." She rolled her eyes "So, who did it, my beautiful wife?"

She just looked at him, "The butler."

It was his turn to raise an eyebrow "Well obviously." He watched as she flinched "Kicking?" she nodded. He leant down and placed a kiss on her swollen stomach before turning and placing one on her lips. She smiled, the previous bickering forgotten.

"I'm" she paused "I'm happy Castle" her smile grew bigger "I love you."

He beamed at her "I love you too Kate," she rested her head on his shoulder and sighed "always."

"Always." She echoed.


End file.
